Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 61.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,263 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 865 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 11,232 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 29.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 246,998 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,823,000 after acquiring an additional 56,559 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 76.2% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,127 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 6,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $127.06 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $1.44 dividend. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BX. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.22.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.